Northward
by ShazzyZhang
Summary: Daryl seems to recall the idea of heading North, but can he convince the others to follow? What is waiting for them off the farm? Rated T for cussing and zombie mayhem. Technically Caryl, but that's not the focus. Direct sequel to my story, "Nightmares".
1. Memories of the North

_AN: So you wanted Daryl to remember his nightmares? I can do that. You want them to go North? I can do that too. This will be fun, all angst and fistfights. Now, where to place it in the time line? My time line or canon time line? Hmm... I think I'd rather have everyone there to fight with and subsequently kill in my own way. This is hopefully gonna be as long as "Love..." so bear with me._

_Miss you all!_

_Cheers._

_-Shazzy_

**Northward**

He felt stupid. He'd been suffering with nightmares for weeks and Carol hadn't said a word about it. He was sure that he'd kept her up unintentionally, it was strange, sharing a tent after so long alone, not to mention sharing his space with a _woman_. Something had tickled the back of his mind to bring her flowers. She would appreciate the gesture at the very least.

Daryl had to wonder if he was getting soft.

No, he assured himself, she would like the damn flowers. But that was neither here nor there, and this was what needed to be done. And if Rick wasn't willing to listen...

Daryl chewed on the calloused skin against his thumbnail as he waited. Everyone was away doing their own chores and preparing for winter as best as they could. He'd asked Rick to have a discussion with him. Now, he waited against the side of the shed, leaning nonchalantly, but biting his thumb nervously. He knew that he wasn't the brightest one of the group, and he knew that Rick wouldn't take his suggestion without consulting the rest of the group. It was an annoyance.

Daryl sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets instead as Rick rounded the corner.

"You needed to talk?" Rick asked immediately. His voice betrayed worry that something was wrong.

"Relax." Daryl assured the deputy. "Nothin' serious, you ain't gotta worry."

"Oh thank God." Rick breathed a sigh of relief. "I don't think I can take much more... drama."

Daryl smirked. Things had been rough amongst the group lately. Rick's marriage was falling apart, unravelling in the most public of ways, Shane was a loose cannon ready to blow at the slightest provocation, and with the threat of winter looming over them, it was all Rick could do to keep their group from killing one another.

"I was jus' thinkin'..." Daryl said slowly.

"About what?" Rick asked earnestly. He took Daryl's opinions far more seriously than he was willing to admit. The hunter had proven himself time and time again.

"Why are we stayin' here?" Daryl asked.

Rick shrugged. "Seems as good a place as any to try and survive the winter."

"No, I mean, here, in Georgia?" Daryl articulated. "Why haven't we tried to make for the state line or somethin'? There's gotta be other survivors out there right?"

"Yeah..." Rick said slowly. "But I don't wanna risk the group again. Winter's coming fast and we don't have enough supplies to last us."

"We could scavenge..." Daryl said slowly.

"There's something else you're thinking of, isn't there?" Rick asked. "You can tell me, Daryl. I'm not gonna judge."

Daryl smirked. "Yeah, whatever." He mumbled. It was a dumb idea to talk to Rick in the first place.

"No, really." Rick insisted. "If you've got something better for us than this..." He waved his hand noncommittally. "I am all ears. This place is making the group insane. More-so than usual, I mean."

Daryl sighed. He felt stupid but it was worth a shot, right?

"Why don't we head North?"

Rick blinked in surprise. "What?"

Daryl ran his hand against the back of his neck. "I mean, yeah, it's colder an' shit but really, wouldn't there be less walkers there? The damn things are dead, right? Reanimated or whatever bullshit term you wanna give it. They don't behave like us, I assume their bodies don't work properly, like ours anyway. They don't breathe, they don't really sleep, they don't feel pain or anything. So who's to say that they'd be able to survive in the cold?"

A frown touched Rick's lips as he considered it. "You think they'd what? Freeze solid or something?"

Daryl shrugged. "It seems like a good assumption." He said. "I mean, they'd dry up in the desert, right? But we wouldn't wanna go to Arizona or Nevada, too damn many people. But North..."

Rick nodded slowly. "Like Canada, North?"

Daryl shrugged. "Maybe we'd get lucky. Maybe there's a refugee camp or somethin' there. Maybe... Maybe there's no walkers in Canada? Who knows? We're totally isolated here, but the walkers run amok. Why not take a risk?"

"Because," Rick said slowly, "it's a huge damn risk. And we'd be putting a dozen lives in danger."

"We're all in danger here." Daryl pointed out. "And staying in one place is driving everyone insane. Don't you think moving might be worthwhile?"

Rick sighed and ran his hand through his hair in thought. "I'll talk to everyone else." He said after a long moment.

Daryl wrinkled his nose at the thought, but didn't argue it. "S'all I can ask, I guess." He mumbled. "Thanks." He added as he walked away.


	2. Committee

_AN: Hmm, Northward huh? My Geography sucks, and I'm Canadian so forgive me if I tend to gloss over the upcoming adventure's description. If any of you wanna help me out, feel free to message me. Also, yes, I think they're going all the way to Canada. Muwahahahaha! _

_And, most importantly, thank you all for coming on these adventures with me._

_Love,_

_Shazzy_

**Chapter 2: Committee**

Rick brought the suggestion up at dinner that same night.

"North?" Glenn asked. "Why north?"

Rick shot a glance at Daryl, who had taken his usual place at the edge of the firelight before answering with a shrug. "Who's to say that the walkers won't freeze?" Rick parroted Daryl's explanation from before. "And maybe this is just a thing here, maybe if we can get far enough north there won't be any more walkers?"

"Wait, you mean, like Canada?" Shane asked gruffly. "You want to drag us all to _Canada_?"

"I didn't say that..." Rick replied defensively.

"Then what, Rick?" Shane drawled. "You wanna drag us away from the safety here with no supplies? No weapons? What if we run into another herd like we saw on the highway?"

"What if a herd finds it's way here?" Rick shot back. "Do you think we'd really be able to defend ourselves if a hundred walkers swarmed us? We sleep in tents, for God's sake!"

"But there's been no walkers here for weeks!" Shane shot back. "We ain't seen any around since the barn..."

"We'd need supplies." Lori piped in. "I mean, we can't just go the way we are now. And what if we can't find anything? What if we run out of food?"

"Or if it snows early." Shane added. "We're not prepared to last a winter here, let alone on the open road."

"I'm sure that we'll be able to find another place to stay." Rick said weakly. "And there's cities, towns, places we can scavenge and raid."

"And other, better prepared survivors, I'm sure." Shane spat. "And when we run into a roving band of misfits? What then?"

"We defend ourselves!" Rick said. "And we avoid other people as best we can until we're sure -"

"Sure of what?" Shane shouted. "Sure that we're gonna get all of us killed with this stupid idea of yours!"

"I'm willing to go north."

Everyone looked at where the supportive voice had come from.

Carol was sitting quietly in her usual place. She was dressed in a loose knitted sweater, wrapped around her slight frame. She bit her lower lip nervously. "I mean... what's the harm in it? We've taken so much of Herschel's supplies, the man has a family to think of, and we aren't really helping him in any way. It's as good a plan as any."

Daryl was just as shocked as the rest of them. He was expecting confrontation from the group, but not support, and least of all from Carol. She was always so quiet, never really voicing her thoughts or opinions, just following. And it was worse with Daryl. She would follow his lead regardless of what he said or did...

But she was _agreeing_.

Something pinged in the back of Daryl's mind. A nagging suspicion that he couldn't place. It was driving him crazy, Daryl Dixon never _forgot_ anything. And yet...

"We still don't have enough supplies to get us much past the edge of the farm!" Lori exclaimed. "And you think it's a good idea to go north? We don't know what's out there!"

Daryl ground his teeth. Lori and Shane were tag-teaming Rick, pointing out all the stupid things that _could_ go wrong, but no one made any solid arguments against leaving. They were complacent, comfortable. Sheep.

Daryl had had enough, it was his idea, wasn't it?

"We don't have to leave immediately." Daryl piped up.

The entire group stopped dead. Daryl _never_ spoke up. He never voiced an opinion. He just sat back quietly and let everyone else argue until they were blue in the face. He didn't seem to _care_. And yet here he was, speaking up for the first time in weeks.

"Why would we risk ourselves like that?" Daryl continued hurriedly, before Shane could interrupt again. "We have some time, it's like... September or thereabouts, right? Snow doesn't usually happen 'til November or so? I mean, the leaves have barely started turnin'. That's a good sign. We have time to scavenge. Get some more fuel saved up, get some canned goods, some more ammo, do some huntin' and save whatever we can find." He shrugged. "I'm all for heading north. This place is killin' us."

Daryl made sure to emphasize the use of the words 'we' and 'us' in his sentiments.

Shane scowled and Lori turned her eyes away from him. Carol beamed with pride and Daryl caught the look.

_She knows something._

"I'm inclined to agree with Daryl." Dale spoke up for the first time. "It's fantastic that Herschel has let us stay this long, but this is the man's land, we're strangers here and we _are_ putting a huge stress on his family and on his resources. If we can get the supplies together, I don't see why we shouldn't move on."

"I... I don't wanna leave." Glenn piped up.

Daryl rolled his eyes and groaned under his breath. The kid was in love.

_Spare us the details of young teenagers in love_.

"Andrea?" Rick asked. "T-Dogg? You two haven't said anything yet."

"As long as I'm not getting shot at or fed to walkers, I can't complain." T-Dogg said, holding his hands up in a gesture of no contest. "I'm perfectly happy sitting my ass right here, but if the rest of you think it's better to keep going, I'm not gonna fight it."

Andrea bit her lip, running her hand against the back of her neck. "Both plans have merit." She said slowly. "I mean, we _need_ to scavenge and hunt more, there's no way we'll be able to make it through the winter here, even with Herschel's help." She shot a quick glance at Lori and Shane. "And I don't think that staying is a great idea either." She shrugged. "Can't we kind of just... play it by ear? If we have enough to ration us through the winter, let's make a run for it, but if we don't... We could stay here? Share our supplies? And then leave in the spring?"

"That kind of defeats the purpose." Daryl drawled.

"And like you know any better?" Andrea shot back. "Like you're some kind of expert about what's gonna happen to those... _things_ in the cold?"

"It's a better plan than anything you've come up with, princess." Daryl spat back acidly. "Whatever, I'm outta here." He scowled. "You girl scouts and enjoy yer little pow wow. Lemme know what you decide to do." He added towards Rick as he got up and stormed off.

Carol frowned and shot Rick a look of apology.

Rick nodded no her and then quickly in the direction of the retreating Daryl. Carol smiled briefly and got up to follow him – the entire group knew that she was the only one who could talk him down these days. And no one argued. They all knew that deep down they _needed_ Daryl on their side. They wouldn't have made it as far as they had without his help on more than one occasion, alienating him was out of the question and was definitely not on the list of things that would be good for the group's overall well-being.

"Daryl?" carol asked quietly as she rushed to catch up to him.

"Not interested in _talking_." Daryl replied over his shoulder.

Carol grabbed his arm, his bare skin cold against her warm fingers.

He stopped and sighed. He didn't understand how she managed to hold so much sway over him.

"Why are you running?" Carol asked.

"I ain't running." Daryl replied, confused.

"You're running away from the discussion." Carol accused.

Daryl turned to face her. He placed his hands gently on her shoulders and stared into her pale blue eyes.

"I'm going north even if they ain't got the brains to follow me." Daryl told her. "I want you to come with, but I dunno what's gonna happen." He bit his lip nervously. "I mean, it ain't safe out there, we know that, an' I don't wanna see anything bad happen t' you, so if you think you're better off staying with -"

"I'll come with you no matter where you decide to go." Carol interrupted. "If you think north is better, I'll follow you." She offered a small smile of reassurance.

Daryl nodded and pulled her close.

_She knows something that she ain't tellin' me..._

"We'll get provisioned up." Daryl said matter-of-factly, still holding Carol close. "Even if the rest of these idiots don't see it, I'm leaving this damn farm."

Carol smiled against his chest, not letting him see it.

Maybe he was remembering his nightmares, after all?


	3. Rations

_AN: Sorry it's been so long. Having 30 stories with people asking for updates is a bit taxing and life has been getting in the way. I promised to continue, so you'll all just have to be patient._

_I feel like I need a marching song for this story. Anyone got a good one? Also, they're getting the hell away from Georgia and the coast. I finally decided, although Daryl did mention Montana in "Nightmares". But that wasn't all, I decided to move them inland mostly because the East coast winters SUCK. In Ontario this past winter, they got hit with 7 feet of snow. Yeah. 7 FEET. All at once. It was crazy. Anyway, let's get this freak show on the road, shall we?_

_Cheers._

_-Shazzy_

**-Rations-**

The food in the camp was starting to get thin, it was quite apparent. Meals were less home-cooked farm food, and more this-is-what-we-have-so-be-thankful. Things were getting stewed together more frequently and even then the broth was thin.

Daryl had had enough. He didn't care what the others thought, he was going north.

He began packing a few survival things, bottled water, dried squirrel meat, extra crossbow bolts. He was going to hoof it, head to the city nearby, get what he could and book it north. He made sure that he would come back for Carol, though. It was the least that he could do.

She would wait for him, and he wouldn't abandon her, so it all worked out.

He hoisted his backpack onto his shoulder and stepped out of his tent.

Rick was standing outside, waiting for him.

"Shit." Daryl cursed. "What d'you want from me?"

"Where are you going?" Rick replied.

"Supply run." Daryl said flatly. "I'm done with the damn group. I'm going north, so I'm going to get supplies."

"And if the group decided that they want to follow your lead?"

Daryl stopped. Had he heard Rick right?

"So now it's a good idea?" Daryl spat. "You damn yuppies never listen to me, y'all always argue and in the end you take a damn vote. I'm in a part of your little democracy anymore." He growled, moving to shove past Rick.

Rick grabbed Daryl's arm, effectively stopping him from walking away in anger.

"Listen, Daryl." Rick said slowly. "I owe you more than I care to admit. To be honest, I don't give a shit about the rest of the group. I care about Lori and Carl above everything else. You've been a good friend, and a valuable asset to me, to the group."

"So?" Daryl sneered.

"So," Rick continued. "I talked to Herschel. Supplies are thinner than we'd thought. There's just no way this farm can support everyone through the winter. Even if we manage to grow some extra crops in the next few weeks, we're more of a burden than a help."

Daryl grew very still and quiet. "Does anyone else know?" He asked.

"No." Rick replied, shaking his head. "I haven't mentioned this to anyone yet. I thought that you oughta be the first to know."

Daryl shot Rick a hard glance. "Why me?"

"Because you're the only one who has the skills we need – we, as in the group – to survive." Rick explained. "You're smart, you know what it means to survive like this."

"In the backwoods?" Daryl asked. "Like a Goddamn animal?"

"Your words, Dixon, not mine." Rick growled. "I know damn well you care a lot more than you let on."

Daryl opened his mouth to argue but Rick silenced him with a wave of his hand.

"Lemme talk, dammit." Rick demanded.

Daryl pursed his lips, but nodded.

"I know you care about what happens to Carol. Everyone knows that." Rick began slowly. "You play the tough guy but you wouldn't have mentioned anything if you didn't care about anyone else. You'd have packed up, taken Carol and left. You cared about Sophia and you look out for Carl as much as anyone else. You ain't alone anymore, Daryl. Maybe it's time you start acting like it."

Rick let go of Daryl's arm. Daryl stood silently for a long moment.

Slowly, Daryl nodded. "You're right." He said. "I ain't used to havin' anyone relying on me. Especially not a group of people who don't know anything about roughin' it. You lot are a burden and a hindrance. Back when it was me an' Merle? No problem. Shit got sorted with fists and booze. When the shit hit the fan? Fists an' more fists. I ain't cut from the same cloth as you folks. I don't play well with others. I'm in it to survive, that's it."

Daryl frowned and continued.

"Yeah, I care about Carol. The woman's lost everything, and if I can be one scrap of somethin' good for her to hold on to? Then Hell yes, I will do my damnedest to make sure she doesn't lose herself. She's the first person to ever give me the time of day, let alone to give a shot about whether I live or die." He ran his hand through his hair. "And yes, Rick, I care about your family. You treat me better'n my own brother ever did. You actually made me a part of this group of yours. As far as you and I are concerned, we're brothers.

"As for your damn group? I don't give a shit about who lives and who dies. Shane is the first person I'd like ta' see take a long walk off a short bridge, but I know that ain't gonna happen, so for now, I deal. I ain't fightin' anymore, though. If we – as a group – are moving on an' heading north? Then pull on the reins a little bit. Your lap dogs tend to bite, and I'm not gonna hesitate to euthanize a rabid dog."

A slow smirk crept across Rick's face.

"Thank you." He said earnestly. He held out his hand to Daryl.

Daryl looked at the deputy's hand for a moment before taking it. Instinctively, both men reached to embrace the other in the hug of sworn brothers everywhere.

"So what's the first move, then?" Rick asked.

Daryl arched his eyebrow questioningly.

"It's your plan, figure you can take point on it." Rick said amiably.

Daryl sighed. "First, we need to get rations, man." He said. "And fuel, and clothes. Winter's not a long way off by any stretch. And I figure we need to help Herschel replenish as much as we can. Flour, rice, canned goods, hardware and lumber, whatever we can find."

"Off to town?" Rick asked.

Daryl nodded. "Off to town."


End file.
